labs.MOTO adds robot to touchscreen accuracy test, iPhone still wins

At the start of 2010 labs.MOTO carried out a touchscreen comparison test to discover which of the current smartphones had the most accurate screen. The iPhone won out, beating both the Droid and Nexus One.

That test involved software and a human finger being dragged repeatedly across each screen attempting to form straight lines. As humans we can be quite accurate with our fingers, but we aren’t perfect. So labs.MOTO decided to update the test replacing the human finger with a robot.

The robot can be seen in action in the video above along with confirmation that the iPhone still wins. What’s more surprising, however, is just how badly the Droid performs as it struggles to even form lines at certain points.

Although the iPhone is the clear winner at the moment, labs.MOTO does not see that continuing for very much longer:

We know for a fact that the solutions in these phones (other than the iPhone) are all last-generation silicon and touch panel components – the other touch screen makers are hard at work perfecting their new solutions, and they may just leapfrog Apple in some areas when they arrive on the market over the next year.

The MOTO team is correct in their assessment that touchscreen testing will eventually show very little differentiation between devices. Screen technology for touchscreens will reach a point where it becomes accurate enough for fingers. By that I mean accuracy will become so good it sets the standard going forward, and all phones will at least have that accuracy. After that, improvements will have diminishing returns.

Ars technica also has a good article up that compliments the MOTO tests discussing the iPhone and Nexus One screens. I urge you to read it if this subject interests you. Ars also concludes the iPhone screen is better than that in the Nexus One, but also points out that the next iPhone is expected to use a similar screen to the Nexus. So will it suffer the same problems, or be a much improved version?